3D printing will help restore intervertebral discs



    On Habré, more than once or twice, news was published about back health and methods that allow this health to be preserved. It can be special chairs for office workers, alternating loads, physical education and more. But what if the spine is already damaged? Indeed, a fairly common disease is damage to the intervertebral discs (in the United States, for example, about 30 million people suffer from such disorders in one form or another). A team of scientists from Cornell University (USA) is currently developing a method for repairing damaged intervertebral discs.

    For this, a special mass with a high content of stem cells is used. With this mass, a biomechanical 3D printer works, restoring damaged disk locations in patients. As soon as the stem cells begin to come into contact with the "native" cells of the disk, they are transformed into the corresponding tissues, thus restoring the damaged areas. After a couple of weeks, the patient should be healthy, and not have problems with the updated disk.



    The technology, in spite of all its fantasticness, is almost realized. Large-scale implementation is just around the corner, and about 100 patients have tested the new method for the restoration of intervertebral discs (although the patients are not human, but rats). According to the head of the research department, Dr. Bonasser, rats with restored discs live without any problems, while maintaining complete mobility.



    The most interesting thing is that with the complete destruction of the disk, Dr. Moreau's laboratoryBonasser can create a completely new disc that is ideal for the spine of a particular patient. All this can lead to a real revolution in the treatment of back diseases, and millions of people are potential patients of Dr. Bonasser. Now the technology has to go through a series of tests, plus being approved by a body like the US Food and Drug Administration.

    Via Dvice

    Also popular now: